Rode Hard, Put Up Wet (Rough Riders #2)(39)

“No. Tell me.”


“I want equal time to do things to you.”


That was all? He relaxed. “Okay. I’m listenin’.”


“So far this relationship has been pretty one-sided.”


“You think?”


“Yeah.”


“It’s been two days, Gemma.”


“Oh. Seems longer, doesn’t it?”


Cash didn’t know how to take that comment so he let it go.


Gemma loosened his hair and massaged his scalp, derailing his train of thought. He groaned with appreciation at her magic touch.


She dug her thumbs into the base of his neck.


“God that feels good.”


“There are other things I can do to you that will feel this good. Or better.”


His cock perked up. “Like?”


“Like, I don’t wanna give you a play-by-play, Cash. I’m more of a doer than a talker.”


“That a fact?”


“Yep.”


“I gotta remind you of a fact, sweets. You agreed to let me be in charge when it comes to sex.”


“I didn’t think that meant all the time.”


“It did.”


Her fingers quit kneading.


“What?”


“Nothin’.”


Cash faced her. “If you ain’t enjoyin’ bein’ with me, just say so.”


“See? That’s not what this is about. You’re just like Steve, taking everything so personal to the point we can’t talk about it.”


They stared at each other. It was the first time she’d brought up her husband’s name in front of him. It didn’t feel as awkward as he imagined it would. Maybe it was a good reminder to him that they both had a past.


“Maybe you oughta explain that comment.”


A gust of wind caught Cash’s unbound hair and it lashed Gemma in the face. Before he could yank it back into a ponytail, she grabbed a handful and pulled him close. “Let me take the lead once in awhile. That don’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, it just lets me be on the giving end. Much as I like being on the receiving end, sometimes I just need to know you don’t mind when I’m aggressive and I don’t want to wait for you to take charge.”


Cash watched her eyes. She had no idea how much her confession meant to him. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d warned her of his savage appetites, or of his secret taste for a little kink. So, not only hadn’t he scared her off, she was letting him know she might even go him one better.


He whispered, “Show me.”


Gemma slammed her lips to his. After ravaging his mouth, she jerked his head back by the hair and sank her teeth into the skin above his collarbone.


And sucked like a vampire. He knew she’d left a mark and he didn’t give a damn.


Her show of force made his dick hard even when it softened his heart.


She licked the stinging spot. “I like to bite.”


“I’ll keep that in mind when my cock is near those sharp teeth.”


Gemma laughed softly. “Let me finish your neck rub. No teeth, I promise.”


Cash relaxed into her once again.


“Tell me about Macie’s mom. And how Macie came to be.” When he stiffened, she chided, “You had to expect I’d ask sometime.”


“Yeah, well, you’d think I’d be used to it by now.”


He wished he had another beer. “Macie’s mom, Jorgen Honeycutt, came to Pine Ridge on some kind of mission trip one summer. She embodied a gypsy, which appealed to a kid like me, bein’s I was stuck on the rez. Probably for the rest of my life.”


“How old were you?”


“Sixteen. I lied and told her I was eighteen. When she mentioned she’d just graduated, I figured her to be twenty-two. Later, I found out she’d meant from grad school, which made her twenty-six.


“I ain’t gonna lie. Jorgen was blonde, beautiful, rich, sexy and I talked my way into her bed.”


“I’ll bet in your teens you were one of those cocky, slow-eyed, good-lookin’ Indian cowboys, weren’t you?”


“Yeah. Me and Jorgen had nothin’ in common. She wanted to be with a ‘real’ Indian cowboy. We screwed around that summer and I knocked her up. Wasn’t a doubt the kid was mine as we were together all the time. She wouldn’t consider an abortion.” Cash still winced when he thought about how hard he’d argued for that option.


Gemma kissed the top of his head. “Sucks that sometimes those things from the past can still hurt us even when we didn’t make that choice.”


Soothed by her again, he continued. “Jorgen had some family money, and wanderingfeet so she took off. Called me six months later to tell me I was a father. I didn’t see Macie for the first time until she was two.


“I was such a bastard, Gem. I didn’t care. Thought I’d skated by easy ’cause I didn’t have to pay child support. Jorgen would call me, drunk usually, and tell me about my child. I dreaded those damn phone calls.